Donne with Life

1. Donne with Life Meditation 17 Analysis

2. Meditation 17 PERCHANCE he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him.  And perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.  The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all.  When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingraffed into that body, whereof I am a member.  And when she buries a man, that action concerns me; all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again, for that library where every book shall lie open to one another; as therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come; so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness. There was a contention as far as a suit (in which, piety and dignity, religion and estimation, were mingled) which of the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the morning; and it was determined, that they should ring first that rose earliest.  If we understand aright the dignity of this bell, that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to make it ours, by rising early, in that application, that it might be ours as well as his, whose indeed it is.  The bell doth toll for him, that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that minute, that that occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God.  Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises?  But who takes off his eye from a comet, when that breaks out? who bends not his ear to any bell, which upon any occasion rings?  But who can remove it from that bell, which is passing a piece of himself out of this world? No man is an island,  entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were;  any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbors.  Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did; for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it.  No man hath afflicion enough, that is not matured and ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction.  If a man carry treasure in bullion or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current moneys, his treasure will not defray him as he travels.  Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it.  Another may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell that tells me of his affliction, digs out, and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another's danger, I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security. 

3. About : J.D. • Meditation 17 along with many other poems was published in the year 1623 in a book called Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions .  • After becoming Dean of St.Paul's cathedral, Donne took on a more somber tone in his writing, reflecting the melancholic tone he sometimes felt (thus why it's called devotions upon emergent occasions.) Meditation 17 was especially one of Donne's more genuine and serious piece for at the time he wrote this he was seriously ill (1623) • In meditation 17, Donne relates to the metaphysical theory of connectedness to the spiritual world through his decaying life. "No man is an island, entire to itself."   Donne is explaining through this line that death is a universal connection for all of humanity. • Donne was so afraid of death that at that moment he wanted to feel that as he was dying he was not alone, but rather connected to the rest of the world which shouldered his burden.

4. Theme: Unity • In Meditation 17 John Donne expresses how even the simplest of tasks and most ordinary of days represent the interconnectedness of humanity. The premise of Meditation 17 is John Donne describing his daily life complete with his spiritual rituals; one of the world’s most popular forms of connecting people “When she buries a man, that action concerns me; all mankind is of one author and is one volume…” All humans are interconnected with one another according to John Donne as the death of one man affects the other along with all of their actions. But humanity’s unity does not only arise solely physically but spiritually as well. “…he is united to God.” Represents the Donne’s connection to God as he feels as if is intertwined with him which at the time and still is a common belief. • With the bible stating that man was made in his (God’s) image, along with the old testament stating that we come from Adam and Eve and then Noah, his wife, children and his children’s wives, John Donne alludes toward humanity’s interconnectedness from all these factors since we all affect each other directly and indirectly, come from the same God, and lastly have the same ancestry.

5. Theme: Religion • John Donne employs metaphysical concepts in several of his poems, this being no exception. God is a part of his life as every other human is a part of him. “God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness…” God is the author of life and death, writing each chapter in a different language with a translator that leads each man and woman to the next chapter of God’s plan. “Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current memory in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven by it” John Donne wishes to express the necessity of death as it allows man to approach God in his kingdom in heaven. • Donne does not wish to die but welcomes it once he reaches it for he is aware that his death will not be his end but simply a beginning in a new chapter.

6. Theme: Mortality “So this bell call us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near…” In the poem John Donne has accepted his own mortality and understands that he may die soon. For this reason he begins to consider the worth of his own life as many do after realizing or believing that they may die soon in an attempt to find solace in what he has done. “The church is catholic, universal” John Donne perceives of his religion as a grand interconnected system which is what it’s supposed to represent even in name as catholic translates to universal. Through this, he accepts his death and welcomes it as it will lead him to the next chapter of the one true author, God, as he understands that alone he would not function for God, but in conjunction with others he may follow him as “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main….”

7. Extended Metaphor: an unlikely comparison of two objects demonstrated through a narrative. Death In meditation 17 Donne explains to the reader that death is not the ending of an era but rather a translation into a new world which is depicted by the transition of ideas throughout the meditation and his statement: "When one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be translated." Donne knows that at the time of his imminent death he must not be scared of the end, because the end does not exist. Rather after death he understands that there is another world to look forward to.  Bell • The bell signifies the ticking of time, it connects the spiritual world to the present and connects all of humanity together. • As the meditation progresses, so does the ticking of the bell, drawing near the end of another and mankind. Done explains to us that as people we are all interconnected as one; "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in making, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee." Donne is conveying to the reader that when the bell tolls for one person, it really tolls for everyone- everyone is together feeling the pain and sadness of the bell. Donne wants to explain to us that we should all care for one another.

8. Imagery: Bell The portrayal of the Bell tolling to mourn those that cannot hear its sound is used to represent death, and Donne’s own curiosity on the state of those that have passed, and, like him, will soon die Man as whole When Donne states “every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,” he illustrates unity and the importance of all human beings by portraying every living man a part of the land which, when combined make up Europe when dead wash away as a strip of land. Brotherhood He uses imagery to exemplify the brotherhood of Christianity when he states that every human being is part of a whole body, and every time one is born and baptized the church and all of its members are affected as well. Death Donne also shows death as a passage into a better world not just the end of life where God is the conductor of the ascendance when he describes men as volumes of a book that upon death are translated into a better language by God in his statement “all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language” Tribulations The treasure of tribulation that Donne describes as gold and fortunes are also meant to show the humility brought on by his own suffering and the lessons that he believes should be passed on to everyone.

9. Symbols: The Church Bell • The church bell represents death and its imminence. As John Donne hears the bell ring, he knows that a church parishioner has died. He realizes that the very same bell could be ringing for him, as he is very ill and close to death. “Perchance he for whom this bell tolls, may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me...may have caused it to toll for me...and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” In this section of the work, John Donne explains the universality of death as the bell could be ringing for anyone. The Island • The island represents isolation from humanity. Donne felt that humanity is diminished when any single person dies, as that person is just as important as the rest of mankind. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...” Here, he uses an example in saying that pieces of clod being washed away from a country eventually add up and result in a greatly diminished amount of land. • Donne claims that no man is isolated from mankind, but is wholly connected to it through human experiences, such as death.

10. Symbols Cont’d: Books • Donne uses an interesting image when he considers how God is the “author” of every person and every death: “all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated.” • Whether a man dies of old age, in battle, from disease or accident, or even through the actions of the state dispensing its idea of justice, God has in a sense decided the terms of each death. • As universal author, God will bind together these various “translated” pages, each man a chapter, into a volume which is open to all. In the new universal “library” of mankind, “every book shall lie open to one another.”

11. Motif: Isolation vs. Interconnectedness of Humanity • Donne maintains the idea that people are not isolated from one another, but that mankind is interconnected throughout the work, as demonstrated in this line “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...”. With the recurring imagery of the island and the mainland, John Donne affirms that no one man can exist on his own, cut off from all the rest of society. Mortality • Throughout the poem, Donne asserts that mortality is a natural outgrowth of a time. He personalizes death for himself and all of humanity saying “Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” The work begins as a wary reflection of his own impending death as he hears church funeral bells and thinks “my state may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that”. • Ultimately, he comes to the conclusion that mortality, although diminishing to society in one aspect, is not something to be miserable about.

12. Concepts:Death • Through various literary techniques, such allegory, symbolism, and most of all imagery, Donne expresses his fear of death, as well as his personal feeling of loss at the death of others. • Although, through the use of imagery and symbolism Donne does paint a brighter picture by showing that death is not the final outcome of life, but just a passage into a better world when he describes men as volumes of a book translated into a better language upon death as he states “ all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated”. • Donne’s affliction also seems to act as a method of humility to the now dying man as he feels that those who suffer, mature and those who witness suffering can inherit the maturity and pass it on to others.

13. Concepts: Religion • Donne manages to show the spirituality and brotherhood brought on by Catholicism and Christianity in general. He illustrates men as parts of a body that when affected influence the other members when says “When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingraffedinto that body, whereof I am a member,” and as pieces of the land that creates Europe where those who pass away are pieces of the land being washed away. • His illness also teaches him the need to value daily life seen when he states that the religion that deserves the blessings is decided on whatever religion wakes first. • This removes unnecessary squabble so that people can live their lives to the fullest and not have any regrets before their death, this also implies the old proverb, “the early bird gets the worm.”

14. Interpretations: Literal • Memento mori of bell tolling and Meditation • Meditation 17, composed by the recovering Donne is taken in its entirety as contemplation about death and how it doesn’t just affect the person who is called upon by death, but the whole mankind. • Being as we are all interconnected, when “the bell doth toll for him,....it tolls for thee,” we call upon a duty to realizes the imminent reality of death, and so those near to death realize their time has come, and yet others experience a revelation to attest their devotion to God, the church, and the divinity of salvation.

15. Interpretations: Religious • Regeneration, Resurrection, Religious symbolism of bell tolling and acceptance of belief. • The meditation serves as a religious calling to reaffirm one’s relationship with God and the Catholic Church. • When Donne says “The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all,” he makes reference to the Catholic church as a being through personification instead of an institution, which alludes the reader of the magnitude of reverence with the analogy of bring life and women’s ability to give birth. • Another instance of Donne’s meditation perspective is his allusion to baptism and how “that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingraffed into that body, whereof I am a member,” serves as a rebirth through mankind after death as mankind. Donne also mentions “as therefore the bell rings to a sermon, calls not upon a preacher only, but upon the congregation to come” to implement a notion that mankind serves under the divine hierarchy as a whole, to secure hope in God’s security.

16. Interpretations: Metaphysical • Moment of accountability and psychological analysis of death and rebirth. • Donne focuses on the transition from existence to the uncertainty of being in the afterlife. • We see Donne’s metaphysical concentration when he states “all mankind is from one author, and is one volume,” and creates a comparison between the transitions from death to the afterlife as a literary composition of God. • As in, our lives, when composed, come together to form the creator’s book for existence and death; as the creations of God, through death we are then employed as instruments of a new creation that outlines the creations of beings, which include ourselves in a sense that “his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again, ...where every book shall lie open to one another.” • Donne mentions internal sufferings within one’s being as a “treasure in the nature of it,” which “matured and ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction.” Through the existence of a tormented being inside mankind, humanity will save itself for the call of God through the desperation and fate of those who can no longer escape the tolling of the bell.

17. Food For Thought.... Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, an 1887 painting byVictorVasnetsov.